[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 236 (Friday, December 8, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71184-71185]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-20801]



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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Coast Guard

[USCG-2006-26416]


Voyage Data Recorder Study

AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS.

ACTION: Notice; request for information.

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SUMMARY: This notice solicits public input as part of a study on the 
feasibility, cost and associated concerns or benefits with the 
installation of voyage data recorders on passenger vessels. In the 
Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, the Congress 
directed the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct a study of the carriage of 
voyage data recorders (VDR) by certain passenger vessels. As part of 
this study, the Coast Guard is to look at the standards, the methods 
for approval of models, and the procedures for the annual testing of 
the VDR.

DATES: Information and related material must reach the Docket 
Management Facility on or before February 6, 2007.

ADDRESSES: You may submit information identified by Coast Guard docket 
number USCG-2006-26416 to the Docket Management Facility at the U.S. 
Department of Transportation. To avoid duplication, please use only one 
of the following methods:
    (1) Web site: http://dms.dot.gov.
    (2) Mail: Docket Management Facility, U.S. Department of 
Transportation, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590-0001.
    (3) Fax: 202-493-2251.
    (4) Delivery: Room PL-401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif 
Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. The telephone 
number is 202-366-9329.
    (5) Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the instructions on the Web site.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have questions on this notice, 
call or e-mail Ms. Dolores Mercier, U.S. Coast Guard Office of Design 
and Engineering Standards, telephone 202-372-1381, e-mail 
[email protected]. If you have questions on viewing or 
submitting material to the docket, call Renee V. Wright, Program 
Manager, Docket Operations, telephone 202-493-0402.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Request for Information

    All comments and information received will be posted, without 
change, to http://dms.dot.gov and will include any personal information 
you have provided. We have an agreement with the Department of 
Transportation (DOT) to use the Docket Management Facility. Please see 
DOT's ``Privacy Act'' paragraph below.
    Submitting comments and information: If you submit information, 
please include your name and address, identify the docket number for 
this notice (USCG-2006-26416) and give the reason for each comment or 
for bringing information to our attention. You may submit your 
information by electronic means, mail, fax, or delivery to the Docket 
Management Facility at the address under ADDRESSES; but please submit 
your information by only one means. If you submit them by mail or 
delivery, submit them in an unbound format, no larger than 8\1/2\ by 11 
inches, suitable for copying and electronic filing. If you submit them 
by mail and would like to know that they reached the Facility, please 
enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will 
consider all comments and information received during the comment 
period.
    Viewing comments and documents: To view comments, go to http://dms.dot.gov at any time and conduct a simple search using the docket 
number. You may also visit the Docket Management Facility in room PL-
401 on the Plaza level of the Nassif Building, 400 Seventh Street SW., 
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, 
except Federal holidays.
    Privacy Act: Anyone can search the electronic form of all comments 
and information received into any of our dockets by the name of the 
individual submitting the comment (or signing the comment, if submitted 
on behalf of an association, business, labor union, etc.). You may 
review the Department of Transportation's Privacy Act Statement in the 
Federal Register published on April 11, 2000 (65 FR 19477), or you may 
visit http://dms.dot.gov.

Background and Purpose

    In the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, section 
420, Congress directed the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct a study of the 
carriage of voyage data recorders (VDR) by passenger vessels described 
in section 2101(22)(D) of title 46, United States Code, carrying more 
than 399 passengers. The study is to include the standards, the methods 
for approval of models, and the procedures for the annual testing of 
the VDR's.
    The vessels that this study involves are ferries of at least 100 
gross tons as measured under title 46 U.S.C. section 14502 or an 
alternative tonnage measured under title 46 U.S.C. 14302, providing 
transportation only between places that are not more than 300 miles 
apart carrying more than 399 passengers.
    This study will review the history of VDR's, their current 
regulation and carriage requirements, the cost of the equipment, and 
the potential benefits. Consultation from both VDR manufacturer's and 
the operators of the affected ferries will be included.
    Through this notice, the Coast Guard asks for comments and 
information related to the carriage of VDR's. The most helpful comments 
will be those that include details about:
     Installation;
     Equipment costs;
     Operational requirements;
     VDR equipment standards and approval methods; and
     Training requirements.
    In submitting comments on these issues, the Coast Guard recognizes 
and encourages input from all parties that will be affected if the 
carriage requirement becomes mandatory. The following questions should 
assist you in submitting your comments.
     What are the potential benefits from the installation of a 
VDR?
     For passenger vessels subject to the Safety of Life at Sea 
(SOLAS) 2000 amendments, the Coast Guard has implemented standards for 
VDR's as well as methods of approval and procedures for the annual 
performance testing. Should the Coast Guard use these established 
standards and procedures for the purposes of this study?
     What would be the potential cost of equipment and 
installation?
     What types of equipment inputs would be required vs. the 
equipment inputs that are actually available?
     Would the crew need to change operational practices?
     What additional training, if any would be required?
     In what type of marine incidents (e.g., grounding, 
collisions, etc) would VDR's prove the most useful?
     Should the Coast Guard consider the use of a Simplified 
Voyage Data Recorder (S-VDR) in lieu of a VDR?
     What is the operational feasibility of recovering the VDR 
data box?
     What would be the guidelines for the ownership and or 
rights to access the data?
     If carriage of the VDR becomes mandatory, what would be a 
reasonable timeline for implementation?
     Would the carriage of VDR's on other domestic vessels be 
beneficial? If so, which vessels and why?

[[Page 71185]]

     Is the current threshold of 399 passengers or more 
appropriate? Should other thresholds be considered?
    The voyage data recorder study report will be available to the 
public, and comments submitted in response to this notice will be 
addressed in the report.

    Dated: December 4, 2006.
Howard L. Hime,
Acting Director of National and International Standards, Assistant 
Commandant for Prevention, U.S. Coast Guard.
 [FR Doc. E6-20801 Filed 12-7-06; 8:45 am]
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